Oklahoma State University Athletics
Cowgirls Take Part In Winter Sports Media Day
October 17, 2016 | Cowgirl Basketball
Oklahoma State Head Coach Jim Littell
Opening Statement
"Well, on behalf of women's basketball, I would like to welcome all of you here. I really appreciate you coming here and covering the Cowgirls. New year, we are very excited. We've been going since October 3rd and feel very good about the practices that we've had. Our team has been very coachable. The effort level has been very good. The attention to detail has been really good, and we are excited about the upcoming season."
On Brittney Martin
"Well, you can't replace a player of that magnitude with an incoming freshman or a new player. So, we've talked about our team, doing it collectively. We're talking about a young lady that led the league in scoring, rebounding, steals, offensive rebounding, defensive rebounding, minutes played and double-doubles. So, that doesn't occur by just having one kid come in and do it. Mandy Coleman has to go from seven a game to 14 a game. Kaylee Jensen has to, although she had an all-conference year, she has to raise her level of play. Couple of seniors that it's their time to shine. They have to play well for us, and Diana Omozee and Katelyn Loecker and we have to count on some of the new kids coming in to provide a spark as well. They aren't going to be there for you every night. As we know, it's a tough league for freshman, but we feel very good about the new people that have come in. We have to defend better, rebound a little better, take care of the basketball and do it collectively."
On the Point Guard Situation
"We have two people. We have a lot of confidence in Karli Wheeler and Jaden Hobbs. It's going to be different. We probably won't defend quite as well as we did with Roddricka Patton, and there might not be as much speed, but I believe those two young ladies shoot the ball really well. Also, they take care of the basketball. I don't know how you weigh that out right now. Some questions are to be answered on that. We may have to do some different things defensively, but I like the play of our point guards. We take care of the basketball and hit open shots."
On Jaden Hobbs
"Jaden is going to play for us immediately. She is going to get thrown in the fire very early. I've been a Jaden Hobbs fan since the first time I saw her when she was a sophomore in high school. You know what I like about her? She has an extremely high basketball IQ. She understands the game, knows how to play, finds the open person, but as she did in high school, she proves that she can hit some open shots, as well. I think Jaden is a really good player."
"We like point guards who can score, and we've always had a good history of that. I don't think we can ask her to do what Tiffany Bias or Andrea Riley did here. Is it a young lady that when she is left open can make shots, definitely. Can she come off high ball screens and have the knowledge how to use that, definitely that as well. I think when the opportunity to score comes around, Jaden will be there."
On the New Faces This Season
"We have four freshman: Rodrea Echols, I believe, is the 85th ranked player in high school. She has the ability to score off the dribble. Very athletic. Areanna Combs, from Putnam City is a really good athlete. Very long, can defend, has the ability to put it on the floor. A 6-3, 6-4 young lady, Alexes Bryant, from San Antonio, is going to be a good player. She needs to change her body, gain a little weight, and get accustomed to the Big 12, but we think she has a bright future here, as well. And then, Shakila Small, from ASA, is a wing player that has a nice stroke from the side. I believe all five of those young ladies will be called upon to play and play immediately and make an impact immediately."
On the Post Position
"Last year, we had some trouble with people doubling down on our post players, and I think we will shoot it a littler better from the perimeter. That's probably one of our strengths right now is the experience that we return at the post position with Kaylee Jensen and Mandy Coleman. LaTashia Jones played a lot of minutes for us last year. Jentry Holt did as well. If you look at strength of our program right now, it is probably the experience we return at the four and five position."
On Playing a Different Style Game
"We are getting back more like how I want to play. Last year, it presented itself that we had a special talent. We ran a lot of sets that way. We probably ran 30-35 sets a night to create 20 plus shots a night for her. I just believe we will be more balanced this year in shots taken, and at the end of the night when you look at point production, I think there will be more balance, as well. Also, it's a different year. It's a different way we have to play. Talent levels dictates that, and as coaches, we have to figure that out. As players, they have to realize, 'hey, when you're open, step up and make open shots.'" It's a year that we are really concentrating on being balanced in our scoring."
On Their Preseason Ranking
"I've never been one to really worry too much about that. I guess it's being a little bit older and knowing what to worry about and what not to worry about. We sat here a year ago, and we were picked 8th in the conference, and I believe with 10 days to go last year, we were in 3rd and finished 4th."
Mandy Coleman
On her improvements
"I've been working on my post moves a lot more. Just being able to go inside and step outside and trying to be more aggressive in the block so I can score."
On her mid-range game
"I wouldn't say I'm automatic, but I've been working on it a lot more."
On the defense
"Diana has been working really hard this year and she's been a key provider for us on defense. She's been good on offense too, getting a lot of buckets for us."
Katelyn Loecker
On if the gameplan has changed with Brittney Martin being gone
"We are going to have to do certain things differently, offensively. We have different players who can come off ball screens. We're going to have to do a more team effort offense. So it's a little bit of a different gameplan offensively and defensively and we are starting to get used to it and we're working on in practice every day."
On Karli Wheeler
"Karli [Wheeler] has really stepped up her game just from a year ago. She's put in a lot of time in the gym working on her shot. She's got a great shot and she's great at coming off ball screens. Her defense has gotten better just within the year. I think she'll be a great key for us."
Opening Statement
"Well, on behalf of women's basketball, I would like to welcome all of you here. I really appreciate you coming here and covering the Cowgirls. New year, we are very excited. We've been going since October 3rd and feel very good about the practices that we've had. Our team has been very coachable. The effort level has been very good. The attention to detail has been really good, and we are excited about the upcoming season."
On Brittney Martin
"Well, you can't replace a player of that magnitude with an incoming freshman or a new player. So, we've talked about our team, doing it collectively. We're talking about a young lady that led the league in scoring, rebounding, steals, offensive rebounding, defensive rebounding, minutes played and double-doubles. So, that doesn't occur by just having one kid come in and do it. Mandy Coleman has to go from seven a game to 14 a game. Kaylee Jensen has to, although she had an all-conference year, she has to raise her level of play. Couple of seniors that it's their time to shine. They have to play well for us, and Diana Omozee and Katelyn Loecker and we have to count on some of the new kids coming in to provide a spark as well. They aren't going to be there for you every night. As we know, it's a tough league for freshman, but we feel very good about the new people that have come in. We have to defend better, rebound a little better, take care of the basketball and do it collectively."
On the Point Guard Situation
"We have two people. We have a lot of confidence in Karli Wheeler and Jaden Hobbs. It's going to be different. We probably won't defend quite as well as we did with Roddricka Patton, and there might not be as much speed, but I believe those two young ladies shoot the ball really well. Also, they take care of the basketball. I don't know how you weigh that out right now. Some questions are to be answered on that. We may have to do some different things defensively, but I like the play of our point guards. We take care of the basketball and hit open shots."
On Jaden Hobbs
"Jaden is going to play for us immediately. She is going to get thrown in the fire very early. I've been a Jaden Hobbs fan since the first time I saw her when she was a sophomore in high school. You know what I like about her? She has an extremely high basketball IQ. She understands the game, knows how to play, finds the open person, but as she did in high school, she proves that she can hit some open shots, as well. I think Jaden is a really good player."
"We like point guards who can score, and we've always had a good history of that. I don't think we can ask her to do what Tiffany Bias or Andrea Riley did here. Is it a young lady that when she is left open can make shots, definitely. Can she come off high ball screens and have the knowledge how to use that, definitely that as well. I think when the opportunity to score comes around, Jaden will be there."
On the New Faces This Season
"We have four freshman: Rodrea Echols, I believe, is the 85th ranked player in high school. She has the ability to score off the dribble. Very athletic. Areanna Combs, from Putnam City is a really good athlete. Very long, can defend, has the ability to put it on the floor. A 6-3, 6-4 young lady, Alexes Bryant, from San Antonio, is going to be a good player. She needs to change her body, gain a little weight, and get accustomed to the Big 12, but we think she has a bright future here, as well. And then, Shakila Small, from ASA, is a wing player that has a nice stroke from the side. I believe all five of those young ladies will be called upon to play and play immediately and make an impact immediately."
On the Post Position
"Last year, we had some trouble with people doubling down on our post players, and I think we will shoot it a littler better from the perimeter. That's probably one of our strengths right now is the experience that we return at the post position with Kaylee Jensen and Mandy Coleman. LaTashia Jones played a lot of minutes for us last year. Jentry Holt did as well. If you look at strength of our program right now, it is probably the experience we return at the four and five position."
On Playing a Different Style Game
"We are getting back more like how I want to play. Last year, it presented itself that we had a special talent. We ran a lot of sets that way. We probably ran 30-35 sets a night to create 20 plus shots a night for her. I just believe we will be more balanced this year in shots taken, and at the end of the night when you look at point production, I think there will be more balance, as well. Also, it's a different year. It's a different way we have to play. Talent levels dictates that, and as coaches, we have to figure that out. As players, they have to realize, 'hey, when you're open, step up and make open shots.'" It's a year that we are really concentrating on being balanced in our scoring."
On Their Preseason Ranking
"I've never been one to really worry too much about that. I guess it's being a little bit older and knowing what to worry about and what not to worry about. We sat here a year ago, and we were picked 8th in the conference, and I believe with 10 days to go last year, we were in 3rd and finished 4th."
Mandy Coleman
On her improvements
"I've been working on my post moves a lot more. Just being able to go inside and step outside and trying to be more aggressive in the block so I can score."
On her mid-range game
"I wouldn't say I'm automatic, but I've been working on it a lot more."
On the defense
"Diana has been working really hard this year and she's been a key provider for us on defense. She's been good on offense too, getting a lot of buckets for us."
Katelyn Loecker
On if the gameplan has changed with Brittney Martin being gone
"We are going to have to do certain things differently, offensively. We have different players who can come off ball screens. We're going to have to do a more team effort offense. So it's a little bit of a different gameplan offensively and defensively and we are starting to get used to it and we're working on in practice every day."
On Karli Wheeler
"Karli [Wheeler] has really stepped up her game just from a year ago. She's put in a lot of time in the gym working on her shot. She's got a great shot and she's great at coming off ball screens. Her defense has gotten better just within the year. I think she'll be a great key for us."
Players Mentioned
Forward/Center
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Guard
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Guard
/ Cowgirl Basketball
Guard
/ Cowgirl Basketball
Forward
/ Cowgirl Basketball
Center
/ Cowgirl Basketball
Forward
/ Cowgirl Basketball
Forward
/ Cowgirl Basketball
Guard
/ Cowgirl Basketball
Guard
/ Cowgirl Basketball
Guard
/ Cowgirl Basketball
Guard
/ Cowgirl Basketball
Guard
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